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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — to crush
  4. cold — an illness
  5. staff — employees
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a leader
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. staff — a stick
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — a box
  16. track — a song
  17. cold — not warm
  18. sharp — clever
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. chest — of your body
  22. date — the fruit
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. date — on the calendar

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com